Body for motor vehicles



Aug. 30, 1932. A. H. ALEXANDER 1,373,990

' BODY FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Filed Jan. 15, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 l I l Alfred lg 21 Alexander Aug. 30, 1932- A. H. ALEXANDER BODY FOR MOTOR VEHICLES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 15. 1927 HH vnHHWW n an 't'ar:

M194 IWJZexazm ap Mm 7 M Aug.30, 1932- A. H. ALEXANDER BODY FOR MOTOR VEHICLES 4 She ts-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 15, 1927 'OIQIIOIIO 1932- A. ALEXANDER 1,873,990

BODY FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Filed Jan. 15. 1927 4 Shets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 30, 1932 ALFRED-302E -ALEXANDEB,

I: v BoDYiroFMo'ron VEHICLES n), AIC MPANY or .scocrnnnn 'Appli'cationfiIedJanuary 15;1927; Serial no; 161,262, and in Great Britain March 0, 19261- This invention relates-to improvements in bOCllGSfOI motor vehicles;-

One of 'the greatest problems in 430111180 tion with vehiclebodies isto provide a -sat-- 5: istactory: body I which can ibe used at" will eitheras-an open oriclosed'bodyfi Permanently: closed bodies ofitheiisaloon type have recently been ooming. into zfavourmore; but in good-weather a closed body" is 19 not *so pleasant totravel in as an open b either. from a hea1th= or :sight seeingrpoint of view. Nevertheless; many people buy;- per manentlyclosedbodiesowing theusualhood provided dismounti'ng from the vehicle. i

The i ob ect of my -1I1V6Ili?1OIl-'"1S-:tO provide 90 an improved form ofbody which-is freefrom thesedisadvantage'sfand can be very rapidly converted irom an op enbody to a closed'body or 1 vice versa, and which when: tclosed is we.- ter-tight anddraughtproof. My} invention comprises -a:'veh1cl'e body in which a fi'e'xible roof'is carried by cross-'- me'mbers adapted to'travel in: or upon'longi tudinal members or cantrails, and a trans verse-shaft or spin 16, I mounted preferably on theiront=cross member 0f the roof structure, has toothed wh'eels meshing with racks 0r 'equivalent devices fitted in or upon the cantr'ails;- so that rotation of the shaft or spindle will cause the 'roof' and its-icros'smembers to travel along the cantrails which are" preferably curved L downwardly; at their 7 rear ends tomeet the back of the vehicle body;

In the open position'theroof with its 7 down "over the back;

, cross-members is folded of thecar in a somewhat similar way to an ordinary cape-cart hood, and the folded fabric'of the roof may if desired bereceived in a recess behind the back: cushion of the rear seat to give a-very -neat appearance. \Vhen-j it is desired to close the body thefront crosse member 1 is drawn upwards --andforwards I inany-desiredmanner. i The shaft or spindle :may

, worm or 1 other 3 reduction gearing.

to the era that i with an open body l5- fails to give adequate protection against rain and windin very bad: weather, andrtakes an appreciable time to erect as well as involving. i

itsforward position where s-ecured be rbtstd -b fithand by 5 means ting on: the end to receive'it, oralternatively' an electric mo tor deriving "current from? the iisual "lighting and Starting batteries is mounted on the front cross memher' and drives-the shaft of-1a crank-handle or key can be conveyed to the motor through flexible "metallic strips running between the cover andwlining: lot the roof and adapted vto =fo1d with it.

switch on the-dash or Othencohveriientpornt, and-the 1 driver can alter the character of the 'r body a'ccordingt'o weather'conditions simply by operation 'ofthe switch without leavinghis seat 'ordisturbing: the passengers.- 1. The side'irames '-which carry't-he cantrails may conveniently be provided with "glass windows sliding over each other; or adapted: to be lowered-into the doors and body, so that windows in position: and the "roof open,- or with the i windows in position and the root? closed-as in an ordinary saloon; i

One-practioahform of myi plied ,to -a-privat example in the accompanying drawings :in

- Figure-11 is "a 'sidevelev'ationf ofthe body closed;.- 1

Figure* 2 1s asimilarview in part section. 1 85 showing the body open. p v

Figure 3 is a rear elevation with the body open.

'Fi I i the cross-members of the roof to the, cantrails.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5, -f5 of Figure 4, showing a fragment of the rack in the cantrails.' I

Figure-6 "is :a detail section "showing one 95 method" 'f ecuring the front' 'crossemember inthe-closed position.

Figure 7 is a transverse sectionot' the roof on a-smallen'sc'ale showing-"the operating shaft and toothedwheels engagingithe racks.

guree a detail section showingone method-of makingtherunnlng connection of on nni niiunen,. sco'rtnnn nssienon To I snnsn'toonf ofzthe shaft which is squared 1 5' through Current-r. 6*

The' motor can be controlled by a reversing thecar canbe-usedent1rely open, with'the'side "7'5" 7 nvention as ap-v e car body is illus'tratedas an 80 .main body members.

In the form illustrated, my invention is applied to a three or four-door private car.

On each side the cantrail a extends from the wind-screen pillars 1) towards the rear end of the body where it is downwardly curved to meet the back of the bodywhich projects behind the cantrail, .but is'slightly lower than the belt-molding c, for the reason set forth below,' The flexible roof'covering cl'is carried by cross-members e runningon the cantrails and by a rear transverse member 7 carried by cranked arms 9 pivoted inside the body on the rear uprights of the super structure.

The cantrails are and uprights j behind the rear doors, and the rear ends of the cantrails are carried down into the body where they are braced to the In the body illustrated sliding glass panels are shown closing the sides of the body, but panels sliding into the doors and body sides may be provided so that the body above the belt line may, at will, be

. unenclosed except for the uprights and cant rails- For the connection of the roof cross-members to the cantrails, a continuous rib is of circular cross-section is formed or secured on the inner face of the cantrail, and two pairs of concave rollers Z, carried by the cross member are adapted to run onthe upper and lower faces of the rib. As shown in Figure 4, the trib'is'formed by half-round strips rivetted on opposite sides of an anglestrip "secured to the "cantrails, but {the rib and the angle strip may if desired be formed together from'rolled or extruded metal. l .1

The rollers are mounted on pinspassing through the inwardly cranked ends of a steel .or other U shaped spring m of which one limb. is-secured to "theunderside of the cross member. This construction permits slight relative movement of the rollers to prevent binding on the curved parts of thecantrails and also ensures a good fit of the rollers 'on the rib to prevent noise. Excessive separation of the rollers is prevented by-enclosing the spring in a sheet-metal box n which also conceals the spring and rollers and gives a neatfinish. J i "5 V A continuous grooveo is formed in the upper surface of the cantrail to receive the rack 'which in this illustrated embodiment is formed by a chain psecured in place at intervals'by pins 39 but which can readily be formed from slotted strip. metaL. The

toothed wheels 9' which mesh with the racks arerecessed into the front crossmember and are carried near opposite ends of a shaft 1" passing through the cross-member and supportedin suitable bearings. I

Both ends of the shaft are squared to receive a crank handle or key 8 so that the shaft supported by the windscreen pillars b, uprights it between the doors,

equalize the strain on the covering can be operated from either side of the vehicle.

When the body is closed the front orossdraught excluding strip 1; of rubber, felt, or any j other suitable material, between the abutting "faces of the members. *Screwthreaded drawbolts w pivoted on the windscreen pillars are adapted to be swung up into slots inlugs depending-from thecrossmember, and wingnuts on the bolts permit the cross-member to. be drawn tightly against the member t.' Instead of draw-bolts, any equivalent devices such as cams may be employed. In caserth'e roof covering should stretch, the member, 2? may be. mounted on slides so that it can be moved forward to allow the front cross-member'to be drawn farther up, but this is not essential.

In the open position of the body as shown in Figure 2, the rear supporting member 7 of the roof covering which is carried by the arms 9 folds down against theback ofthe body. The reduction in height of the body at the back permits the arms 9 to lie horizontally inside the sides of the body, and the outer endsiofthe arms rest onbuffers at the,

upper ends'of guard strips, :0 secured to the rear panel. The o'thercross-members e lie vertically above the arms and the fabric or other covering hangs down in folds into a recess behind the back cushion 1 which is temporarily .swung' forward to allow the folds to, fall-into place. If desired a hood cover can be provided by attachingmaterial to the back of the rear cushion and bringing it over the folded hood turn-buttons or the like mounted on the back of thebody.

To close the body the operating key fitted to one end of the shaftr which is rotated, and the toothed wheels thereonengaging with the racks ;0 cause the front cross-me1n-' her to travel forwardly on the cantrails, bringing after it the cover and the other cross-members. until the front member reaches its forward positionrwhere it is secured as described above.

The roof is preferably provided with a lining of fabric or other suitable material secured to the under'sideof the cross-members in addition to the outer covering, and to when the cross-members are travelling round the curved parts of the cantrails the cross-memwebbing or by springs.

Where the vehicle body is of considerable bers may be connected by strips of elasticand attaching it by width in an omnibus or char-a-bancs, a free--' running shaft with pinions engaging the racks on the cantrails may be provided on each cross-member to prevent the crossmembers getting out of line and to keep them always at right angles to the cantrails, but this is not essential.

An additional refinement which may be provided is the fitting of sheet-metal strips 2 on the outer faces of the rear parts of the cantrails to deflect wind and rain, the strips overlapping the edges of the roof covering when it is in the closed position as shewn in Figure 1.

I claim 1. A vehicle top comprising fixed longitudinal cantrails, downwardly curved at their rear ends to meet the vehicle body, means for supporting the cantrails from the body, a continuous inwardly projecting rib on each cantrail, a flexible roof covering, cross-members supporting said covering, a spring of curved outline on each end of said cross-members, rollers rotatably mounted on the limbs of said springs ribs on the cantrails, casings springs and rollers, and co-operating gearing on the front crossember and cantrails for causing the cross-members to travel along the cantrails. i

2. A vehicle top comprising fixed longitudinal cantrails, downwardly curved at their rear ends to meet the vehicle body, means for supporting the cantrails from the body, a continuous inwardly projecting rib on each enclosing said and engaging above and below said 7 pair of fixed, longitudinal, parallel top carrying elements, means for supporting said elements above the vehicle body, crossmembers traveling on the carrying means, propelling means carried by one of the cross members, and apair of fixed means parallelling the earrying means and engaged by the propelling means to move both ends of the cross member uniformly in either direction along the carrying means, and a flexible roof cover attached at spaced intervals to the cross members, whereby the cover, cross members and carrying means may all be retracted from above the top of the vehicle leaving the same entirely unobstructed by either of them, or may be optionally drawn forward to cover the top of the vehicle.

In testimony ALFRED whereof I afiix my signature. HOPE ALEXANDER.

cantrail, a flexible roof covering, cross-members supporting said covering, a spring'of curved outline on each end of said cross-mem bers, rollers rotatably mounted on the limbs of said springs and engaging above and below mesh for causing the cross-members to travel along the cantrails.

3. A vehicle top including fixed, parallel, longitudinal cantrails, a flexible roof cover, fixed parallel correspondingly toothed racks on the cantrails, cross members, secured at spaced intervals to the flexible covering, and movable along the cantrails during extension and collapse of the flexible cover, means for retaining the cross pieces in traveling relation upon the cantrails, propelling means embodying a transverse rotatable spindle carried by one of the said cross members, and provided with a pair of correspondingly toothed pinions fixed thereon and meshing respectively with said racks to govern the movement of the cross-member along the cantrails in a right angled relation thereto during the whole length of its travel, whereby the propelling means, cross pieces and cover may be entirely retracted from above the vehicles top.

4. The combination in a vehicle top of a 

